Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1887-05-18
SIBERIAN PRISON LIFE.
How Russian Criminals and O6sn-
sive Politicians are Treated.
a System of Puntsh;ne ent introduced by
Peter the Great and Maintained by
His Successors-The Varieties OF
Exiles or "Cnfortunates."

Thomas W. Knox, in Chicago Inter-Ocean.3
For nearly two centuries Siberia has
been famous, or infamous, as a place of
Punishment for those who offend against
the social or political laws of Russia.
Peter the Great began the transportation
of criminals to Siberia in ITO; previous to
that date the country had been used as
land Of banishment for officials whom the
government wished to get out of the way
without putting them 10 death, but the
number of these deported individuals was
not large. Ever since Peters day the work
of exiling criminals to Siberia has been
kept up; the ordinary travel of this sort
is about 10000 annually, end sometimes it
reaches as high as 12,C00 or 13,000
Outside of this deportation is that
of revolutionists, Nihiiists and others
who offend politically rather than
criminally, though any opposition to the
autocratic power of the Car is likely to
be regarded as criminal in the eyes of the
Russian Government. After every revo-
luton in Poland the number of exiles is
rapidly augmented. In the year following
the revolt Of 1868, "a, Geo Poles were sent to
Siberia, and for two or three years after
ward there were from 10000 to 10000 un-
happy lovers of independence who trav-
eled the same route.
Sometimes the political prisoners are
mingled with the criminals, but ordnarily
they are kept apart. In former times the
prisoners were compelled to walk 10 their
destinations, and the journey from St
Petersburg to the regions beyond Lake
Baikal, q distance of nearly 1900 miles, oc-
cupied two years and sometimes more, and
many of the exile died on the road from
fatigue and privations. 1t was found moro
economical TO transport the offenders in
wagons or sleighs, or by rail and steam
boat when possible, than to require them
TO walk, and for the last twenty years or
more five-slxths of the exiies have been
carried in this way. At points varying
from ten to twenty miles apart, along the
great road through Siberia, there are
houses for the lodgment of prisoners at
night; they afford shelter from the
weather, but very little else, as they are
almost always badly ventilated, and very
dirty; and occupants sleep on the bare
floor or benches, without any other cover
ing than the clothes they wear. Some
times in summer the officer in charge Of a
convoy of prisoners will permit them to
sleep out of doors at night instead of en-
tering their filthy stations, but in such
case he requires the personal
promise Of every exile i'll the convoy that
and he further makes the whole
party responsible for individual con-
duct. Under such circumstances, if one
of the prisoners should violate his parole
and run away, no further favors would be
shown to the rest, and they would be put
on low rations of food and otherwise pun
ished. 1t is needless to say that they take
good care that the promise is kept. This
privilege is accorded only to the conveys
Of political offenders; the criminal classes
are not considered worthy of such conf
dence in their honor.
Prison life in Siberia is OF many varie-
ties, according to the offenses OF different
in lividuals and the sentences which have
been decreed in their casses. The lowest
sentence is the simple banishment for
th.ee years AMI the highest to hard labor
Tor life. The simple exile without impris-
onLnent is appointed to live in q certain
town, district or province, and must re-
port to the police at stated intervals.
he may engage in certain specified
occupations, or rather in any occu-
patton which is not on prohibited list;
for example, he may teach music or paint
but may not teach languages, as they
afford the opportunity for propa-
eating revolutionary IDEAS. He may be-
come merchant, farmer mechanic, con-
tractor, or any thing else of that sort, and
it not infrequently happens that exiles en-
Joy degree of prosperity in their new
homes that they did not have in European
Russia. Exiles and their sons have be-
come millionaires lin Siberia; a former
Vanderbilt of Irkoutsk, the capital Of
Eastern Siberia, was the son of an exile
serf; his enormous fortune having been
gained IN the overland tea trade Many
exlles become so attached to Siberia that
they remain there after their term of ban
ishment is ended, but it should be under
stood that their cases are the cx-
ceptions rather than the rule. Tho
wife and immature children of an
exile may follow or accompany
him at the expense of the Government.
but can not return to Europe until his
term OF service has expired. The object
IF exile is to furnish population to this
'parseiy inhabited region, and it goes
without saying that a family man is much
more likely to be a good citizen when his
wife and children are with him than when
they are thousands OF miles away. The
name of prisoner" or 'exilen is never ap-
Piled to the bauished individuals; in the
language of the people they are called
''unfortunate5,' and in official documents
they are termed involuntary emigrants." !"
OF those sentenced to forced labor some
are ordered TO become colonists; they are
furnished with tools and materials for
building house on plot of ground al
lotted to them, and for three years can re-
ceive rations from the nearest government
| station, but when the three years have ex.
I pired, they are expected 10 support them.
selves. If they were sent 10 the Southern
and therefore fertile parts of Siberia, their
lot would not be a severe one, but most OF
them are assigned TO the Northern re-
g1ons, where the support of life from till
ing the soil or from hunting and fishing
Is matter of great difficulty. Those
who are kept in prison and sentenced
TO hard labor arc employed il
mines, mills, foundries. or on the public
roads; many Of them wear chains which
extend from a girdie around the waist tc
each ankle and effectually preclude the
possibility OF running away. Their life il
O hard one, and their food is coarse and
often limited in quantity; it is bad enough
under kind-hearted overseers and super
intendents, and terrible where the masters
are cruel, which happens altogether toe
| often. In the time of the first Alexander
and the Emperor Nicholas the treatment
Of the prisoners in Siberia was more Sc
we're than at present, but even to-day
there is great opportunity for ameliora
ton.